Pune: All India Council of Technical Education, AICTE is all set to launch a new engineering syllabus/ curriculum from next year. The Indian Express reports that the new industry-specific syllabus would be unveiled by Prakash Javadekar, Minister, Ministry of Human Resource Development on January 24, 2018, at the AICTE office. The highlight of the new syllabus is an industry-specific syllabus that caters to the latest technological requirements. Apart from this, there is also the possibility of introducing a mandatory 3 week orientation in all engineering courses.

AICTE Chairman, Dr Anil Shasrabudhe was in Pune recently to inaugurate two new schemes by the council. It was during this inauguration that he spoke to the Indian Express on the impending changes and overhaul in the engineering courses being offered. The revamps of the old syllabus would primarily focus on incorporating the advancements in engineering and technology, giving a more focused industry-specific curriculum that would make engineers ready for jobs. Reportedly, 11 subject matter expert committees have been working towards the same.

Dr Sahasrabudhe in his interview with IE said, “The current engineering syllabus… has become very old. That’s why… changes have been made in the syllabus. By next week, the new engineering syllabus will be announced and from the next academic year, all engineering colleges across the country will start implementing it. ” He further added that students joining the engineering course from next year would be required to undertake a mandatory three-week orientation programme, which would be part of the engineering syllabus.

Speaking on the need of the orientation programme, he added, “… The students come from diverse backgrounds… many of them come from rural areas and may not be well-versed in English, even though they are bright students. At this stage, they start developing an inferiority complex and a positive intervention for these students is necessary for the first few weeks… so that they don’t feel left out. It is necessary to create a level playing field and that’s what these orientation workshops would do.”

The chairman also hoped for building a camaraderie between the students during the orientation workshops and reducing, if not eliminating the sense of inferiority in students from varied backgrounds. The workshops would give the students a platform to freely interact with teachers. The workshops would also include cultural activities, yoga classes and competitive programs. All these activities are expected to instil team spirit in the batches and help students.

As the syllabus is expected to be considerably different than the existing one, workshops are being arranged to train the teachers in the new syllabus. Apart from workshops, the detailed handbook has also been prepared to assist them in understanding the revised pedagogy of the new engineering syllabus. Currently, about 5 workshops have been conducted. Each workshop has seen the participation of about 10-15 leading college representatives.

Sources confirm that this has been done to mitigate the gap between academic learning and job requirements in the sector. Innovation in the curriculum was the call of the hour with reports suggesting that nearly 80 percent of engineering students from private colleges were deemed unemployable by the industry. The new syllabus is bound to bring in modification and make students job read.